Eyelet.



' N0. 628,!65. Patcnted July 4, I899. v

DE WITT 0. SEE.

EYELET.

:Application filed Mar. 8, 1899.1

(No Model.)

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DE WITT CLINTON SEE, OF MEOHANICSVILLE, NEW YORK.

EYQELET.

SPECIFICATION forming part Of Letters Patent No. 628,165, dated July 4;, 1899.

Application filed March 6, 1899. Serial No. 707,979. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, DE WITT CLINTON SEE, acitizen of the United States, residing at Mechanicsville, in the county of Saratoga and State of New York, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Eyelets; and Ido hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to improvements in eyelets adapted for use in connection with lacing; and its object is to provide a device of simple construction, cheap of manufacture, and durable in use.

To these ends this invention consists in the novel construction of the eyelet, substantially as hereinafter described and claimed, and illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, showing the preferred forms of my invention, and in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of my improved eyelet. Fig. 2 is a plan View thereof. Fig. 3 is a section on line 3 3, Fig. 1'; and Figs. 4 and 5 are detail views of modified forms of the eyelet.

Referring to said figures by letters of reference, A A are the walls of an eyelet,which are preferably struck up from a single piece of metal into a D shape, as shown, and are provided with a flange B,of any desired form, extending around the upper edges thereof. Struck up near the upper-edges of the walls A and projecting inwardly from the surfaces thereof is a cylindrical bead 0, preferably extending partially around the eyelet, as shown in Fig. 1. It may, however, extend but partially across the outside or wholly across the inside of the straight wall of the eyelet. This bead, as is obvious, serves as a bearing for a cord or lacing and presents a smooth curved surface to both the flat side and the edges of the lacing. This construction provides a strong, durable, and cheap eyelet and also one that can be reduced in size compared with the eyelet heretofore patented by me and which employs a friction-roller.

It will be noticed that the bead O is situated at points between the bottom and top edges of the eyelet and that the convex groove or way formed thereby on one or more of the faces of the eyelet is not depended on to secure the eyelet in position. The eyelet herein shown, like that illustrated in my earlier patent, No. 572,033, above referred to, is secured to the fabric or material to which it is applied by upsetting the lower or inner end thereof,and thereby, as illustrated in said earlier patent, forming a flange extending outwardly from the walls of the eyelet and parallel to the. flange B at the other end that is, the material to which the eyelet is applied is grasped between the two outwardlyextending flanges at the ends of the eyelet.

The purpose of and advantages attained by the inwardly-extending bead O are that by means thereof the lace passed through the eyelet will be kept flat, wear and friction on the lace will be reduced or less than were such bead omitted, and the insertion and removal of a lace from an eyelet are facilitated.

The bead 0 need not necessarily, as lhave above stated, extend across more than the straight front wall of the eyelet, and, in fact, need not extend entirely across that wall.

The additional advantage obtained by having the bead extend along more or less of the side walls as well as across the front wall of the eyelet is that thereby I provide smooth guides for the edges of the lace, as well as for the flat face thereof. Of course itis not necessary to have any such bead on the back wall, as the lace does not contact with such wall.

I am aware that prior to my invention it has been proposed to make an eyelet of such form that it shall have a curving inner surface longitudinally from end to end and also that it has been proposed to make an eyelet with a peripheral groove to receive the fabric or material to which it is applied; but my improvements are clearly distinguishable from such earlier devices as those referred to.

I provide an eyelet which can be easily stamped or struck up from a single metallic blank and arrange within said eyelet means whereby the amount of surface exposed to contact with the lace is less than the length of the eyelet and of a form to reduce the friction incident to moving the lace thereover.

In Figs. 4 and 5 I have shown modified forms of eyelets, showing the bead extendstraight wall thereof.

. provided at one end with an outwardly-projecting retaining-flange that extends beyond the said body in all directions, one of the walls of the body being straight and having an inwardly-projecting transversely-extending bead, substantially as set forth.

2. An eyelet consisting of a tubular body having a straight, front, wall, one end of said body being surrounded by an outwardly-projecting flange, and the straight front wall being provided at points between said flange and the opposite end of the body with an inwardly-projecting transversely-extending bead, substantially as set forth.

3. An eyelet consisting of a tubular body provided with a straight. front wall, an integral outwardly-extending flange and adapted to have its opposite end upset to form a second flange, said straight wall having an inwardly-projecting, transversely-exteuding, bead that is separated from the ends of the body by relatively straight portions of said wall, substantially as set forth.

4. An eyelet consisting of a tubular body adapted to be secured to any suitable support, one of the walls of said body being straight and having a transversely-extendin g groove formed in its outer face, at points intermediate of its length, whereby an inwardly projecting, transversely-extending bead is formed on the inner face of said wall, substantially as set forth.

5. An eyelet consisting of a tubular body the straight front wall and the side walls of which are provided with inwardly-projecting transversely-extending beads arranged in the same plane and at points between the ends of the eyelet, substantially as set forth.

6. As a new article of manufacture, the eyelet for lacing, having a bead or ofiset upon its inside to remove or isolate the lacing passing therethrough from contact with the edge or angular portion of said eyelet, substantially as set forth.

7. As a new article of manufacture, the eyelet for lacing, struck up from a single piece of malleable metal, with an inwardly-projecting bead or offset in the front wall, and lateral extensions of said bead in the side walls DE VVITT CLINTON SEE.

Witnesses J. C. REYNOLDS, W. J. SAFFORD. 

